Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N5/00—Details of television systems
  • H04N5/76—Television signal recording
  • H04N5/78—Television signal recording using magnetic recording
  • H04N5/782—Television signal recording using magnetic recording on tape
  • H04N5/783—Adaptations for reproducing at a rate different from the recording rate
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06T—IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
  • G06T9/00—Image coding
  • G06T9/007—Transform coding, e.g. discrete cosine transform
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B19/00—Driving, starting, stopping record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form, or of supports therefor; Control thereof; Control of operating function ; Driving both disc and head
  • G11B19/02—Control of operating function, e.g. switching from recording to reproducing
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B20/00—Signal processing not specific to the method of recording or reproducing; Circuits therefor
  • G11B20/10—Digital recording or reproducing
  • G11B20/10527—Audio or video recording; Data buffering arrangements
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
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  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/002—Programmed access in sequence to a plurality of record carriers or indexed parts, e.g. tracks, thereof, e.g. for editing
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
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  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/005—Reproducing at a different information rate from the information rate of recording
• • G—PHYSICS
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  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/02—Editing, e.g. varying the order of information signals recorded on, or reproduced from, record carriers
  • G11B27/031—Electronic editing of digitised analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals
  • G11B27/034—Electronic editing of digitised analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals on discs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/02—Editing, e.g. varying the order of information signals recorded on, or reproduced from, record carriers
  • G11B27/031—Electronic editing of digitised analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals
  • G11B27/036—Insert-editing
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/10—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/102—Programmed access in sequence to addressed parts of tracks of operating record carriers
  • G11B27/105—Programmed access in sequence to addressed parts of tracks of operating record carriers of operating discs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/10—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/11—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information not detectable on the record carrier
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/10—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/19—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier
  • G11B27/24—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier by sensing features on the record carrier other than the transducing track ; sensing signals or marks recorded by another method than the main recording
  • G11B27/26—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier by sensing features on the record carrier other than the transducing track ; sensing signals or marks recorded by another method than the main recording by photoelectric detection, e.g. of sprocket holes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/10—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/19—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier
  • G11B27/28—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording
  • G11B27/30—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording on the same track as the main recording
  • G11B27/3027—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording on the same track as the main recording used signal is digitally coded
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/10—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/19—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier
  • G11B27/28—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording
  • G11B27/32—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel by using information detectable on the record carrier by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording on separate auxiliary tracks of the same or an auxiliary record carrier
  • G11B27/327—Table of contents
  • G11B27/329—Table of contents on a disc [VTOC]
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B20/00—Signal processing not specific to the method of recording or reproducing; Circuits therefor
  • G11B20/10—Digital recording or reproducing
  • G11B2020/10935—Digital recording or reproducing wherein a time constraint must be met
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B2220/00—Record carriers by type
  • G11B2220/20—Disc-shaped record carriers
  • G11B2220/21—Disc-shaped record carriers characterised in that the disc is of read-only, rewritable, or recordable type
  • G11B2220/213—Read-only discs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B2220/00—Record carriers by type
  • G11B2220/20—Disc-shaped record carriers
  • G11B2220/21—Disc-shaped record carriers characterised in that the disc is of read-only, rewritable, or recordable type
  • G11B2220/215—Recordable discs
  • G11B2220/216—Rewritable discs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B2220/00—Record carriers by type
  • G11B2220/20—Disc-shaped record carriers
  • G11B2220/21—Disc-shaped record carriers characterised in that the disc is of read-only, rewritable, or recordable type
  • G11B2220/215—Recordable discs
  • G11B2220/218—Write-once discs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B2220/00—Record carriers by type
  • G11B2220/20—Disc-shaped record carriers
  • G11B2220/25—Disc-shaped record carriers characterised in that the disc is based on a specific recording technology
  • G11B2220/2525—Magneto-optical [MO] discs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B2220/00—Record carriers by type
  • G11B2220/20—Disc-shaped record carriers
  • G11B2220/25—Disc-shaped record carriers characterised in that the disc is based on a specific recording technology
  • G11B2220/2525—Magneto-optical [MO] discs
  • G11B2220/2529—Mini-discs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B2220/00—Record carriers by type
  • G11B2220/20—Disc-shaped record carriers
  • G11B2220/25—Disc-shaped record carriers characterised in that the disc is based on a specific recording technology
  • G11B2220/2537—Optical discs
  • G11B2220/2562—DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B2220/00—Record carriers by type
  • G11B2220/20—Disc-shaped record carriers
  • G11B2220/25—Disc-shaped record carriers characterised in that the disc is based on a specific recording technology
  • G11B2220/2537—Optical discs
  • G11B2220/2562—DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
  • G11B2220/2575—DVD-RAMs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B2220/00—Record carriers by type
  • G11B2220/60—Solid state media
  • G11B2220/65—Solid state media wherein solid state memory is used for storing indexing information or metadata
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/10—Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/34—Indicating arrangements 
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
  • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
  • G11B27/00—Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel
  • G11B27/36—Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N5/00—Details of television systems
  • H04N5/76—Television signal recording
  • H04N5/78—Television signal recording using magnetic recording
  • H04N5/781—Television signal recording using magnetic recording on disks or drums
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N5/00—Details of television systems
  • H04N5/76—Television signal recording
  • H04N5/84—Television signal recording using optical recording
  • H04N5/85—Television signal recording using optical recording on discs or drums
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N9/00—Details of colour television systems
  • H04N9/79—Processing of colour television signals in connection with recording
  • H04N9/80—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback
  • H04N9/804—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback involving pulse code modulation of the colour picture signal components
  • H04N9/8042—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback involving pulse code modulation of the colour picture signal components involving data reduction
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N9/00—Details of colour television systems
  • H04N9/79—Processing of colour television signals in connection with recording
  • H04N9/80—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback
  • H04N9/804—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback involving pulse code modulation of the colour picture signal components
  • H04N9/806—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback involving pulse code modulation of the colour picture signal components with processing of the sound signal
  • H04N9/8063—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback involving pulse code modulation of the colour picture signal components with processing of the sound signal using time division multiplex of the PCM audio and PCM video signals
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N9/00—Details of colour television systems
  • H04N9/79—Processing of colour television signals in connection with recording
  • H04N9/80—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback
  • H04N9/82—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback the individual colour picture signal components being recorded simultaneously only
  • H04N9/8205—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback the individual colour picture signal components being recorded simultaneously only involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N9/00—Details of colour television systems
  • H04N9/79—Processing of colour television signals in connection with recording
  • H04N9/80—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback
  • H04N9/82—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback the individual colour picture signal components being recorded simultaneously only
  • H04N9/8205—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback the individual colour picture signal components being recorded simultaneously only involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal
  • H04N9/8227—Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback the individual colour picture signal components being recorded simultaneously only involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal the additional signal being at least another television signal

Definitions

• inventive arrangements relate generally to methods and apparatus providing advanced operating features for audio only, video only and both video and audio programs recorded on disc media, for example recordable digital video discs, hard drives and magneto optical discs.
• Such devices include tape recorders, video cassette recorders, recordable compact discs, and most recently, recordable digital video discs (DVD). Hard drives and magneto optical discs have also been used.
• DVD-R A DVD that can be recorded on only once, and thereafter is essentially a DVD read only memory, is referred to by the acronym DVD-R.
• DVD-R is also used generally to refer to the write-once, or record-once, technology.
• Several formats are available for DVD's to be recorded on, erased and re-recorded; that is, overwritten or rewritten. These are referred to by the acronyms DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD + RW. As of this time no uniform industry standard has been adopted.
• DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD + RW are also used generally to refer to the respective rewritable technologies. Reference herein to rewritable DVD technology, devices and methods is generally intended to encompass all of the standards which are now being used, as well as those which may be developed in the future.
• the program presentations are recorded in the viewer and/or listener's absence, for presentation at a later, more convenient time. This is referred to as time shifting the program.
• a program is being viewed and/or listened to without being recorded, and with out any interest in a recording, but the viewer's and/or listener's attention is interrupted, for example by a telephone call or an unexpected visitor. If the viewer and/or listener is watching a television program, for example, and has a cassette tape in a VCR, or can retrieve and load such a cassette tape quickly, the program can be recorded.
• the viewer and/or listener cannot view and/or listen to the program in its entirety, and in a proper time sequence, until after the recording has been completed.
• the time to completion of the recording can be short or long, depending on the length of the program.
• Pause is available, but only as a counterpart to pause operation in a VCR, for example interrupting the play back of a prerecorded program or interrupting the recording of a viewed program to eliminate commercials from the recording.
• recordable DVD devices Unlike computer hard drives, recordable DVD devices have a very significant additional function, which is playing back prerecorded DVD's.
• rewritable DVD technology including methods and devices, that can be used instead of a computer hard drive. It is a challenge to provide such devices with improved, advantageous features without compromising the goal of decreasing costs and increasing sales.
• DVD technology allows the use of a variety of advanced features, including for example the ability to seamlessly branch from one part of a video presentation to another.
• the DVD - Video standard permits on-screen menus to be used.
• the menus permit users to control the video presentation by activating buttons appearing on a display screen.
• menus allow users to navigate through the various video presentation contained on a disc, select from multiple programs, select different versions of the video presentation on the disc, and operate other advanced DVD features. Menus can also be used to navigate through interactive video programing which may be provided on the disc.
• the DVD standard also permits the use of sub-menus which may offer the user other control or selection options beyond what may be available in a main menu.
• Menus play a key role in navigation of a disk.
• a real-time recording device such as DVD-RW, DVD + RW, DVD-RAM and Streamer, just name a few
• the creation of a menu normally requires a user to know certain information.
• a menu for navigating through a series of video presentations or recordings requires the user to know what the video presentation will be.
• Such information is necessary in order to properly identify each such presentation in the menu description or in text associated with the navigation buttons.
• users often do not know what they will record on a disk prior to such recording.
• creation of a menu requires a user to know in advance where on the disc a particular presentation is recorded.
• a method for real time generation of menus in a DVD recorder includes the steps of providing a template menu having one or more dummy buttons, activating a marking command during a video data recording session, and in response to the marking command, modifying the template menu by assigning to the dummy button a valid flow control command for accessing the video data at a time corresponding to said activating step.
• the method can include the step of storing the template menu on the DVD prior to the recording session.
• the method can include the step of controlling a display parameter of the dummy button responsive to the marking command to make the dummy button visible.
• the method can include configuring the template menu with a selected number of dummy buttons responsive to a user input.
• the method can include the step of modifying the template menu after the video data recording session.
• a button language, button appearance, button text, menu name and menu background can be modified.
• the modifying step can include changing the appearance of a button to a thumb-nail image.
• the thumb-nail image can be a scene determined by the video data recorded during the video data recording session.
• the modifying step can include deleting a button.
• a system for real time generation of menus in a DVD recorder.
• the system includes DVD recording hardware with suitable processing capabilities for providing a template menu having one or more dummy buttons.
• the system also provides for activating a marking command during a video data recording session, and in response to the marking command, modifying the template menu by assigning to the dummy button a valid flow control command for accessing the video data.
• the system can store the template menu on the DVD prior to the recording session.
• the system can control a display parameter of the dummy button responsive to the marking command to make the dummy button visible.
• the system can configure the template menu with a selected number of dummy buttons responsive to a user input.
• the system can modify the template menu after the video data recording session. For example, a button language, button appearance, button text, menu name and menu background can be modified.
• the system can modify the appearance of a button to appear as a thumb-nail image.
• the thumb-nail image can be a scene determined by the video data recorded during the video data recording session.
• the system can delete a button when the button is no longer needed.
• a second menu screen can be automatically added to include the additional buttons.
• the second menu screen can be accessed, for example, by a "next menu" button which can be included on the first menu screen.
• Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a rewritable DVD device that can be provided with one or more advanced operating features in accordance with the inventive arrangements.
• Fig. 2 is a diagram useful for illustrating the spiral track on a rewritable
• Fig. 3 is a diagram useful for explaining the organization of video disc.
• Fig. 4 is a diagram useful for illustrating a blank menu used in accordance with the inventive arrangements.
• Fig. 5 is a diagram useful for illustrating a menu with a single button in accordance with the inventive arrangements.
• Fig. 6 is a diagram useful for illustrating a menu with six buttons in accordance with the inventive arrangements.
• Fig. 7 is a diagram useful for illustrating a menu in which the buttons and menu title have been modified in accordance with the inventive arrangements.
• Fig. 8 is a flow chart useful for illustrating the process according to the inventive arrangements.
• a device 1 00 for implementing the various advanced operating features in accordance with the inventive arrangements taught herein utilizes a rewritable disc medium 1 02 in accordance with the inventive arrangements is shown in block diagram form in Fig. 1 .
• the rewritable disc medium 1 02 is embodied as a rewritable DVD in the illustrated embodiment.
• the rewritable disc medium can also be, for example, a hard drive or a magneto optical disc (MOD) .
• An example of a MOD is a mini-disc.
• the inventive arrangements are applicable to video or audio or both video and audio.
• the device 1 00 is capable of writing onto and reading from the disc medium, in this example, a rewritable DVD 1 02.
• the device comprises a mechanical assembly 1 04, a control section 1 20, a video/audio input processing path 140 and a video/audio output processing path 1 70.
• the allocation of most of the blocks to different sections or paths is self-evident, whereas the allocation of some of the blocks is made for purposes of convenience and is not critical to understanding the operation of the device.
• the mechanical assembly 1 04 comprises a motor 1 06 for spinning the
• a laser on the pickup assembly burns spots onto a spiral track on the disc or illuminates spots already burned onto the track for recording and playing back video and/or audio program material.
• the pickup and the motor are controlled by a servo 1 1 0.
• the servo 1 10 also receives the Playback Signal of data read from the spiral track of the disc 1 02 as a first input.
• the Playback Signal is also an input to an error correction circuit 1 30, which can be considered part of the control section or part of the video/audio output processing path.
• the control section 1 20 comprises a control central processing unit (CPU) 1 22 and a navigation data generation circuit 1 26.
• the control CPU 1 22 supplies a first input signal to the navigation data generation circuit 1 26 and the servo
• the navigation data generation circuit 1 26 supplies a first input signal to the multiplexer (MUX) 1 54, which forms part of the video/audio input processing path 140.
• the output of the MUX 1 54 is an input to an error correction coding circuit 1 28.
• the output of the error correction coding circuit 1 28 is a recordable input signal supplied to the pickup 1 08, which will be "burned" onto the spiral track of the disc 1 02 by the laser.
• the control CPU 1 22 also preferably has access to the data contained in the track buffer 1 72 and record buffer 1 52 as shown in Fig. 1 .
• CPU 1 22 can delete, modify, and reformat video data stored in the track buffer 1 72 and record buffer 1 52 for the purpose of implementing the inventive arrangements.
• Suitable software or firmware is provided in memory for the conventional operations performed by control CPU 1 22.
• program routines for the advanced features 1 34 are provided for controlling CPU 1 22 in accordance with the invention as shall hereinafter be described in greater detail.
• a control buffer 1 32 for viewer activatable functions indicates those functions presently available, namely play, record, reverse, fast forward, pause/play and stop.
• the pause is a counterpart to pause operation in a VCR, for example manually interrupting the play back of a prerecorded program or interrupting the recording of a viewed program to eliminate commercials from the recording.
• a separate buffer 1 36 is provided to receive commands for implementing the inventive arrangements taught herein.
• the video/audio input processing path 140 is a signal processing circuit for converting a conventional television signal, for example NTSC or PAL, into digitized packet data, for example MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, for digital recording by the device 1 00.
• the input path 1 40 comprises an NTSC decoder 1 42 and video encoder, for example MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, 1 44 for video in, and comprises an audio analog-to-digital converter (A/D) 146 and an audio encoder, for example MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, 1 48.
• the digitized signals are combined in a multiplexer 1 50 and stored in a record buffer 1 52 until an entire packet has been constructed. As groups of packets are constructed, they are combined with the output of the navigation data generation circuit in the MUX 1 54 and sent to the error correction coding circuit 1 28. Error correction coding circuit 1 28 can also be deemed to be part of the input path 140.
• the smallest addressable unit on the spiral track of a DVD is an ECC (error correction code) block of 1 6 sectors, where each sector includes 2048 bytes of user data.
• a group is a number of ECC blocks, for example 1 2.
• Each group of blocks represents approximately 0.5 seconds of combined video and audio program material.
• the amount of linear space along the spiral track needed to record a group of ECC blocks, for example 1 92 sectors, is defined herein as a segment of the spiral track. Accordingly, it can appear that the record buffer needs to be only large enough to store one segment of data.
• One segment of data can correspond, for example, to approximately 0.5 seconds of audio and video program material.
• the output processing path 1 70 comprises error correction block 1 30 and a track buffer, or output buffer, 1 72, in which data read from the disc is assembled into packets for further processing.
• the packets are processed by conditional access circuit 1 74 that controls propagation of the packets through demultiplexer 1 76 and into respective paths for video and audio processing.
• the track buffer 1 72 needs to be only large enough to store one segment of data, also corresponding to approximately 0.5 seconds of audio and video program material.
• the video is decoded by decoder 1 78, for example from MPEG-1 or MPEG-
• the audio is decoded by circuit 1 82, for example from MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, and converted to analog form by audio digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 1 84.
• the output processing path 1 70 can be deemed to include the error correction circuit
• a rewritable DVD 10 shown in Fig. 2 is suitable for use as disc 1 02 in device 100.
• the disc 1 0 is formed by a flat, round plastic plate-like member 1 2 having a hole 1 4 in the middle.
• the direction of recording on the track is typically outwardly along a spiral track 1 6, from a smaller radius part of the spiral to a larger radius part of the spiral.
• the several series of three large dots ( ) denote portions of the track not shown in the drawing. As a result, the beginning of the spiral track is deemed to be near the hole 1 4, and is denoted by square 1 8.
• the end of the spiral is deemed to end near the rim, and is denoted by diamond 20.
• Those skilled in the art generally accept defining the beginning and end of the spiral as noted.
• Certain advanced features in accordance with the inventive arrangements utilize backward recording, that is, from a larger radius part of the spiral to a smaller radius part of the spiral.
• the track can also have a side-to-side wobble, not shown in the drawing, to accommodate media type indexing. Due to difficulties of scale only portions of the track 1 6 are shown, and these are shown in greatly enlarged scale.
• each nearly circular, radially concentric section of the spiral is sometimes referred to as a track, but this terminology is not commonly accepted as having that specific meaning.
• the term track is also used to refer to that portion of the spiral track that contains a single audio song, or other selection, and the same may or may not become common for DVD's.
• each DVD contains a video manager 26 and video title set (VTS) 28.
• the VTS includes video title set information (VTSI) 27, an optional video object set for menu 29, and one or more VOBS for title 30 which contains the actual title content.
• Each VOBS 30 also includes a plurality of video objects 32.
• Each video object 32 includes a plurality of cells 34.
• VOBS is comprised of a collection of pointers to cells.
• the VOBS data links cells together and indicates in what order the programs or cells are to be played.
• Cells within a particular VOBS can be flagged for play in any desired order. For example, they can be played sequentially or randomly.
• Each cell includes a plurality of VOBUs 36.
• Each of the VOBUs 36 in which the video content of the disc resides typically contains 0.4 to 1 .0 seconds of presentation material.
• Each VOBU 36 is a sequence of data packs in recording order.
• Each VOBU starts with exactly one navigation pack (NV PCK) 38 and could encompass all of following kinds of packs, including video packs (V PCK)
• Each VOBU is nominally comprised of one group of pictures (GOP) .
• the NV PCK 38 contains presentation control information as well as data search information.
• the data search information is useful in performing "trick" modes of playback, that is, any mode of DVD device operation other than normal play, stop and pause.
• One aspect of data search information (DSI) is that it helps the decoder to find reference pictures within the VOBU corresponding to the current NV PCK.
• Another aspect of the DSI is that it helps the decoder to find VOBUs far into the future or past of presentation, relative to the current VOBU.
• the VOBUs in the past relative to the current VOBU presentation are referenced in fields of the NV PCK known as the BWDI (backward information).
• the VOBUs in the future relative to the current VOBU presentation are referenced in fields of the NV PCK known as FWDI (forward information) .
• Each VOBS can include navigation commands which permit branching or other interactive features. These navigation commands can be included as part of the VOBS as a set of pre-commands. These pre-commands can be followed by optional navigation commands identified within the NV PCK 38 of the cells 34, which commands are executed after the cell is presented. Finally these may be followed in the VOBS by an optional set of post-commands. All of these commands are stored in a table within the VOBS and can be referenced by number so that they can be used repeatedly.
• the navigation commands can direct the control CPU 1 22 to perform a variety of operations associated with branching or interactive features. For example, they can provide flow control with commands such as goto, link, jump, exit, and so on.
• a menu is a set of buttons which can permit a user to control a video presentation.
• Information to create menu buttons is included in the command data. Buttons can be drawn on the video background of a display, and DVD allows control over the appearance of the buttons. Invisible buttons can be created by setting the pixel contrast to zero.
• Each button has a command with which it is associated. In most instances, these will be flow control commands as described above.
• a menu construct can be provided in the VOBS for menu 29. The menu in this case has navigation commands associated with each of the buttons of the menu.
• Fig. 8 is a flowchart useful for illustrating the process.
• the first stage involves preprocessing of a menu.
• a pre-created template menu can be provided or selected by a user with a set of hidden or invisible buttons.
• the user can select the number of buttons to be associated with the template menu.
• each of the buttons may have certain languages associated with it. For example, to facilitate use in various regions of the world, the language associated with the buttons may include English, Spanish, or
• the template menu is preferably stored in memory, or can be created by embedded software in the DVD player.
• Each button associated with the template menu preferably has dummy (i.e., empty) command(s) pre-recorded therewith or no commands at all.
• the template buttons are initially configured such that when these buttons are activated, the software commands, if any, associated therewith will be of no consequence and will have no effect. Further, the buttons in the template menu are preferably configured so that they are hidden and are therefore not displayed. Thus, the template menu 44 initially appears as an essentially blank screen as shown in Fig. 4.
• the pre-created template menu 44 can be copied to a location on the disc for the VOBS for menu 29. Subsequently, the recording process can begin in step 82.
• the control CPU 1 22 determines whether a marking command has been detected. If the marking command is detected by control CPU 1 22 in step 84, it causes a non-dummy command, such as a flow control command, to be associated with one of the existing hidden buttons. The marking command will cause a record to be made of the location in the bit stream corresponding to the point in time when the marking command was received.
• the non-dummy command associated with the menu button can be configured to reference the recorded location in the bit stream for allowing subsequent accessing of video data recorded at that location on the disk.
• the marking command can be initiated by any suitable means.
• the user can activate a control button for the DVD device 1 00 or the command could be automatically initiated by a software program routine for controlling the operation of control CPU 1 22.
• Such a marking command can be input by means of a suitable user interface operatively connected to advanced feature buffer1 36. If a software routine is used for this purpose, then under certain predefined conditions, such as each time a recording session of some length is begun, the marking command can be generated. As a result of the marking command, the system proceeds to step 86 and one of the dummy buttons on the template menu 44 will become visible and navigable.
• Fig. 5 illustrates a template menu 44 after one buttons 45 has been activated.
• the pixel contrast of the button has been changed to some value other than zero so that it is visible on screen.
• a valid navigation or flow control command is now assigned to the button, replacing the dummy command, if any.
• Fig. 6 illustrates the same menu 44 after six of the buttons 45 have been activated so that each is now visible and assigned a valid flow control command which will cause the DVD player 100 to jump to the scene which has been marked.
• the third stage of the process can begin.
• the menu 44 can be modified as desired in step 90.
• the menu name 46 can be changed and the particular appearance of the buttons can be altered as shown in Fig. 7.
• the buttons can be made to appear as thumb-nail still images.
• the thumb-nail image can be the first picture associated with the recording to which the buttons will cause the player to jump.
• the background 47 for the menu 44 can also be changed to an appearance selected by the user.
• a button can be removed from the menu by deleting the valid flow control command or converting the command back to a dummy command. If no non-dummy commands associated with a button exist, the button will become invisible and non-navigable. If necessary, the languages on the menu and the content of the menu can also be altered after recording.
• a second menu screen can be automatically added to include the additional buttons.
• the second menu screen can be accessed, for example, by a "next menu" button which can be included on the first menu screen.
• inventive arrangements provide great user flexibility to enable personalized menus to be added to recordings. Separating the menu processing into three stages, namely pre-processing, recording, and post-processing, in accordance with the inventive arrangements provides enhanced user convenience and flexibility.

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